NBC Halts Comedy ‘Mail Order Family’ After Backlash

NBC has decided to halt production on their new show “Mail Order Family” two days after it was announced. The decision came after the concept received backlash, with critics complaining that it was perpetuating stereotypes of Filipino women. A change.org petition was also created, stating that “exploitation and violence against Filipino women is not entertainment.”

“We purchased the pitch with the understanding that it would tell the creator’s real-life experience of being raised by a strong Filipina stepmother after the loss of her own mother,” an NBC spokesman said in a statement. “The writer and producers have taken the sensitivity to the initial concept to heart and have chosen not to move forward with the project at this time.”

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“Mail Order Family” was still in the script stage and hailed from “Superstore” writer and producer Jackie Clarke. Based on Clarke’s own family experience, the story followed a widowed single father who orders a mail-order bride from the Philippines to help raise his two preteen daughters.

Prior to the show being scrapped, Clarke tweeted on Thursday she was “hoping to make the stepmom a fully realized strong activated character.” She also replied to another user saying, “I want to make her a kick-ass, feminist, badass. I wanna invert the stereotype!”

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